Family Friendly Wineries

8 Family Friendly Wineries

that go above and beyond for kids

Your Margaret River Region is well known for producing outstanding wine and food. Many wineries have been blessed with the genius idea to combine the two, and have cafes or restaurants situated on their estates giving people a chance to taste their wines and enjoy a delicious meal in beautiful surroundings.

The region in general is very welcoming towards families and below I have put together a list of some of the wineries that go above and beyond to accommodate children (and in some cases dogs too).

Aravina Estate, Yallingup

Aravina Estate is a one of a kind elegant luxury estate in beautiful Yallingup.

The estate features exquisite food made with local produce including items from their own kitchen gardens, an indoor sport car gallery, manicured hydrangea and rose gardens, panoramic views, complimentary wine tasting and a private tasting room.

Families are well catered for at Aravina Estate, with a European designed playground, high chairs and a children’s menu.

Killerby Wines & Cheeky Monkey Brewery, Wilyabrup

If you can’t decide on whether you should visit a winery or brewery for lunch why not visit one venue that has both?

As you first walk into the building on the left is the Killerby Wines cellar door with complimentary wine tasting and local gourmet produce and on the right is the Cheeky Monkey Brewery with great brews, fantastic food and an awesome fully fenced kid’s playground.

Killerby Wines & Cheeky Monkey Brewery is very welcoming to families offering a great kids menu, high chairs, baby change facilities and tables and chairs right next to the playground so you can sit and enjoy your meal while watching your kids play.

Rivendell Estate Restaurant, Yallingup

Rivendell (sometimes referred to as Howling Wolves Wines) goes above and beyond to make their restaurant and estate family (and dog) friendly.

They have a bouncy castle, a small outdoor slide and toys which can be seen from the deck and the gazebo. There is lots of room to run around and play, beautiful gardens to explore and they celebrate school holidays with vigour!

At Easter time they have an Easter Egg hunt and the kids can meet Easter Bunny, at Christmas time they have carols and a long table lunch on Christmas Day. During school holidays they have lots of different activities for kids from a dinosaur dig to face painters and more.

The kid’s meals are great; my boys enjoyed a lovely piece of Whiting from Shark Bay, which came with a drink and dessert too.

Swings & Roundabouts, Yallingup

If you love a really good pizza and a glass of wine this is the place for you!

Swings & Roundabouts specialises in authentic wood fired Italian pizza (with gluten free options available) & you can even watch the pizza chefs throw the pizza dough in the air and work their magic while you wait.

There is so much for kids to do here from playing games like Giant Connect Four, Cricket, Totem Tennis, Bocce, Pickup Sticks, Rugby, and Soccer to an old school tyre swing.

With live music, great food and a relaxed family and dog friendly laid back vibe it’s not hard to see why Swings & Roundabouts is so popular. If the restaurant tables are full there are plenty of picnic blankets available to enjoy your pizza on.

If pizza isn’t your thing you can purchase a local gourmet picnic basket or some indulgent desserts to enjoy.

The Berry Farm, Rosa Brook

The Berry Farm Winery & Cottage Café is unique to the region because unlike most wineries their produce is not made from grapes; it is made from fermented fruit.

The winery has been in operation for over thirty years and the most popular item is their Sparkling Strawberry wine. It takes 1kg of fresh strawberries to make one bottle of strawberry wine! They also have delicious Passionfruit, Nashi Pear and “Tickled Pink” Lemon and Wildberry Sparkling Wine.

The Berry Farm recently won a gold medal at the 2015 Perth Royal Show for their Dark Plum Port & Sparkling Passionfruit Wine.

The estate is a working farm and has a commercial kitchen where they make their own preserves, fermented vinegars, sauces, dressings and more with over 40 products available for tasting at the cellar door along with their wines.

The Cottage Café is famous for its scones, which are served with cream and the farm’s own phenomenal strawberry jam. We also tried the gluten free chocolate almond cake with berry syrup and cream, it was so moist and delicious.

The Berry Farm also knows how make a good cup of tea. There are lots of flavours to choose from; I tried the Gunpowder Green tea and it was perfect. I really do appreciate a cup of good quality herbal tea that is made with finesse.

The estate is absolutely gorgeous, like something out of a picture book, with every type of fruit tree and flower imaginable. There is an orchard with emus, peacocks and other feathered friends.

At the front of the Cottage Café brave blue wrens feast on jam and at the back there is a veranda shaded with flower covered vines with more tables and seating overlooking a large children’s playground.

Watershed Premium Wines, Margaret River

Just outside the township of Margaret River, surrounded by vineyards sits the iconic Watershed Premium Wines.

Watershed will always hold a special place in my heart because my husband and I celebrated our wedding reception here many years ago and it was one of the most memorable days of our lives.

You can sit outside on the deck overlooking the vineyards and dam, inside in the restaurant or out in the enclosed courtyard next to the children’s playground.

Watershed has a café for casual meals and a restaurant for something extra special. Families are very welcome here the Watershed has won several Gold Plate awards for The Best Family Dining Restaurant.

As well as the children’s playground and family friendly atmosphere there is a kids menu, high chairs and baby change facilities.

Xanadu Wines, Margaret River

Xanadu Wines is one of Margaret River’s pioneering wineries, established in the 70’s by Dr John Lagan who could foresee great potential. He was absolutely right, Xanadu went on to win a swag of awards including the highly prestigious title of 2015 James Halliday Wine of the Year.

Not only is the quality of Xanadu’s wine very high, so is their food and service. Each time I have visited Xanadu the food has tasted every bit as delicious as it looked and my family and I were so well looked after I felt compelled to write them an email praising them for providing such an amazing culinary experience.

You can sit inside Xanadu’s amazing restaurant overlooking a grassed area where the kids can kick a footy or outside on the terrace with views of the outdoor playground.

There is a dedicated cellar door building right next to the restaurant where you can enjoy complimentary wine tasting and book an Insiders Vineyard Tour for a more in depth wine experience.

Even though Xanadu Wines has been kicking some serious goals and obviously holds themselves to a very high standard they have still managed to remain humble. Families are very welcome and they have beautiful kids’ meals, high chairs, baby change facilities and colouring in.

So many cellar doors to choose from…

… over 95, in fact! The diversity of the region’s cellar doors ranges from farm-style to architecturally elaborate, many of which have casual cafés ranging to world-class restaurants. Go exploring during your next visit.

About Jacinta Keeble

Jacinta Keeble is a proud mother, wife and writer, grateful to call the South West home. She is passionate about real food and appreciates fresh produce from her local region. Jacinta loves exploring the South West, finding hidden gems and sharing them on social media.Website | Instagram | Facebook

6 Comments

Wow some fantastic looking wineries here. In Gippsland Victoria where we live Vineyards are starting to con onto having things for kids and its excellent Happy kids happy Parents and we will stay longer and spend more

Great list – we have been to a few of these and it’s hard to get the kids to leave! It was raining when we went to Rivendell though so will definitely have to go back there to explore the grounds and Aravina looks amazing!

Hi Reeva, thanks! There will be lots going on at Rivendell during the holiday period and beyond, so we definitely recommend a return visit! Aravina is just gorgeous, the car gallery is very cool and the food is beautiful – they have a kitchen garden out the back which you should go and have a look at when you’re next there!